We've been on the hunt for more meaningful speaker panels around LA, so we decided to check out Women Founders Network's angel investor panel last week in Santa Monica. Honorary YSC correspondent Elizabeth Villa shared her insights as a female founder raising capital for her media startup, Do The Good Stuff. Here's what she had to say:

Overall rating: A-

Good for: Female founders thinking about or actively fundraising.

Quality of content: Excellent. In just an hour, the panel covered topics from the panelists’ backgrounds to their pitch pet peeves, to the importance of a clean cap table, in enough depth to require multiple pages of notes. That wasn’t just coincidence – this panel was well run and had a purpose. Everyone participating was on board, which meant even the Q&A was focused and informative.

A major miss: There were no women of color on the panel. And if that's because female angel investors aren't a very diverse group overall, I wanted to hear them say that. That's information that matters to female founders of color because it certainly will affect their ability to raise money. The importance of gender diversity in business was acknowledged a few times in the questions asked and answered during the event, but that’s where the conversation ended but that’s not where the importance of diversity ends for female founders.

Was it worth it? Yes! I left with actionable info, a renewed optimism in panel-style events, and a new connection with a potential collaborator.

P.S. I’m not one for going to networking events, let alone by myself, but this was a really positive experience for me. Just a little encouragement to all you introverts to get out there. It’s not so bad.